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Vitex altissima
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Family:
VERBENACEAE
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Citation: Vitex altissima L. f., Suppl. Pl. 294. 1781; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 4: 584. 1885; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1102(772). 1924; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 317. 1984; Ansari, Fl. Kasaragod Div. 299. 1985; Ramach. & V.J. Nair, Fl. Cannanore Dist. 359. 1988; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 319. 1989; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 622. 1990; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 370. 1990; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 361. 1994; Subram., Fl. Thenmala Div. 277. 1995; Sasidh. et al., Bot. Stud. Med. Pl. Kerala 13,19. 1996; Sasidh. & Sivar., Fl. Pl. Thrissur For. 355. 1996; Sasidh., Fl. Shenduruny WLS 244. 1997; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 539. 1997; Sasidh., Fl. Periyar Tiger Reserve 312. 1998; Sasidh., Fl. Chinnar WLS 245. 1999; Sasidh., Fl. Parambikulam WLS 244. 2002; Mohanan & Sivad., Fl. Agasthyamala 526. 2002; Rajendran & Daniel, Indian Verbenaceae 344. 2002; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 395. 2005; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 568. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 645. 2009.
Vitex alata Willd., Gen. Naturf. Fr. New Schr. 4: 203. 1803, non Heyne ex Roth 1821; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 4: 584. 1885; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 539. 1997.
Vitex altissima L.f. var. alata (Willd.) Trimen, Handb. Fl. Ceylon 3: 358. 1895; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 228. 1982.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Myila, Mylellu
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Trees, to 30 m high, bark 10-13 mm thick, greyish-yellow, scaly; branchlets lenticellate, minutely tomentose. Leaves compound, opposite, leaflets 3-5, sessile, 6-18 x 2-5 cm, lanceolate, elliptic-lanceolate, or oblanceolate, apex acuminate, base cuneate or acute, margin entire, glabrous above and pubescent or glabrescent along the nerves below, chartaceous; rachis 3.5-6 cm long, slender, pubescent, winged in sapling leaves, wings auriculate at base; lateral nerves 10-16 pairs, pinnate, puberulent beneath, slender, prominent; intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers bisexual, white, tinged with blue, in terminal panicles; bracts lanceolate, 3 mm long, cauducous; Calyx densely tomentose, shortly 5 lobed, ovate. Corolla 5 mm long, 2 lipped, upper lip of 2 and lower lip of 3 lobes, obtuse, throat villous. Stamens 4, didynamous, exserted; filaments hairy at base. Ovary globose, 1 mm, superior, densely hairy, 2-4-celled, 4 ovuled; style filiform; stigmas bifid. Fruit a drupe, 5 x 5 mm, smooth, globose, glabrous, blue, supported by enlarged calyx; seeds 4, obovate.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
March-July
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District(s):
All Districts
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests, also in sacred groves
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Distribution:
India, Indo-China, Malesia and Sri Lanka
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
White, Blue, Violet
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
300-800
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Localities:
Peechi, Vellanimala, Vazhani, Kattalappara, Muthuvanala, Kallidamkunnu, Vengoli, Orukomban, Munnar, Walayar, Sabari hills, Begur, Taliparamba, Payyanur, near Cheeyapara falls, Malampuzha, Mukkali forests, Mannarshala, Ampumala, Saivila, Kulathupuzha, The
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